Springtime For The Råne River - Salmon Fishing in Northern Sweden and the Saving of a River

The Råne River was a hair's breath away from being exploited for hydro power in 1986. Ten years earlier a government plea had suggested that the river would be dammed. Instead it has lately proven to keep a particularly wild salmon stock that steadily grows in numbers. The first year migrating fish were counted in the river showed an surprising 4000 Salmon and Sea Trout.
This is the story about how the river was saved. Of how fly fishing profile and environmentalist Gunnar Westrin and his friends fought for the future of the river back then, a fierce fight that divided the community along the river. But it is also the story of the future of the river. Only ten years ago, almost nobody fished for Salmon in the river. Now however, a highly adaptive and agile conservations methodology is under development in the river valley and salmon stocks are on the rise.This is the story about how the river was saved. How fly fishing profile and environmentalist Gunnar Westrin and his friends fought for the future of the river back then, a fierce fight that divided the community along the river. But it is also the story of the future of the river. Only ten years ago, almost nobody fished for Salmon in the Råne river. Now however, a highly adaptive and agile conservations methodology is under development in the river valley and salmon stocks are on the rise.
The film was commissioned by the "Salmon Conservation for the Future" - project, a project owned by these entities: Sportfiskarna (The Swedish Anglers Association), Europeiska havs och fiskerifonden (The European Union), Länsstyrelsen Norrbotten (The administrational board of Norrbotten County), Norrbottens kommuner (a unity of municipalities in the county of Norrbotten) and Degerselsbygdens samfällighetsförening (The Organisation for Fisheries Management in the Råne River).
There is also a Swedish version of this film: vimeo.com/granstrand/ranealven

[@tomaasen]

Nordic heroes. Wish more of theese battles could have been won. Well done, and thank you:)

[@JohanGranstrand]

tommern agreed. Many rivers were lost and all too few were saved. But eventually they will all be free again. If not in our time so in the time of future habitants of this world.

[@Photojanne]

Tack Gunnar!

[@denizyldzbalkavmalz.gazipa5658]

wonderful a video congratulatıons lıke 738+like 921

[@huseyinselcukyaylal4697]

Really nice... thank you

[@michaelspencer6318]

nice video , how can i fish here ?

[@JohanGranstrand]

Hi Michael. Thanks for reaching out. I'm glad the video made you want to go fishing. Here's a good starting point for going fishing in the Råneå River: sorbynfishing.com The Sorbyn Lodge offer both accommodation and skilled guides that knows every corner of the river.

[@michaelspencer6318]

thank you Johan, i will give it go

[@JohanGranstrand]

That’s great! When you decide to go please let me know if I can help out in any way.

[@michaelspencer6318]

hi Johan,
thats very kind . i live in stockholm an was thinking late june ,july .any tip would be welcome

[@edindulic5289]

hello, i would like a fisherman here this summer, can you help?

[@JohanGranstrand]

Hi! Sure I’d be glad to help. You’re saying you want to fish the river and you want someone to guide you?

[@maxpower1337]

I wish Norway would stop with the fish farms every where.

[@johnwenlock4848]

wen would be the best time to fish here ?

[@JohanGranstrand]

Hi John! It depends from year to year. But a typical year the best period would be during the second half of June and first week of July when most fresh salmon run the river and the river runs high enough and at a good temperature. Far from every year is typical though as you know. Last year was a strange one, with the spring flood being huge, early, ice-cold and very concentrated to a short time period in late may/early June and with steady high temperatures for weeks in a row the river dropped all too fast and got warm before most salmon had even thought about starting the run. Many of them probably hadn't even arrived at the river mouth at the time. Most of the summer, but for a few days, the river ran too low and at too high temperatures to fish in even.

[@johnwenlock4848]

@@JohanGranstrand Thank you Johan for your reply ,i am coming to sweden in late june an would really like to fish there ,it looks lovely .do you know permit costs etc ?

[@johnwenlock4848]

@@JohanGranstrand Thank you ,is it easy to find the pools and are the fish just in the lower river early in the year ?

[@JohanGranstrand]

Great, you definitely should try it, I couldn't recommend it more. Last year the permit for salmon fishing was around €60 for a full season, it should be somewhere around that. For that you can fish catch and release all season.

[@JohanGranstrand]

@@johnwenlock4848Most of the fishing starts some 30km from the river mouth. The first stretch of the river consists of lakes and wide slow-flowing areas (with a few exceptions) and has very few natural holding places for salmon. Most fish will run this stretch the first one or two days and nights and will then find their place higher up the river, where there are more holding pools and the rapids and pools are much closer to one another, making it easier to fish there. All the obviously good pools are marked with signs by the road and are easy to find and pretty self explanatory when it comes to fishing them. But clearly your chances for a catch will increase significantly if you fish with a local guide who knows the water and where to fish in which condition. Here's a place where you can buy your permit, find accommodation and hire a guide: sorbyn.se/en/